Chamber and committees

Yes. The Executive supports these proposals and has today advised the Scottish Ambulance Service that it should proceed with the operations rooms changes and with the implementation of priority based dispatch. I, alongside the Chairman and Chief Executive of the Scottish Ambulance Service, will be making a full statement later today.

Under the New Opportunities for PE and Sport in Schools fund, announced on 19 March, up to £21.75 million will be committed throughout Scotland to support out of school hours programmes, organised through schools, which offer children and young people a wide range of sporting and cultural activities.Each local authority has been given a provisional allocation to fund these activities from the spring of 2003. Swimming lessons for children and young people aged five to 16 could be funded, provided they meet programme priorities, eligibility and assessment criteria.

This is a matter for the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council. However, my Guidance Letter to the council stated that delivery of the Executive's objectives for higher education will require collaboration with a wide range of other bodies, both on the part of the council and individual institutions. Key partners include schools and colleges, the Scottish Further Education Funding Council, Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, the business community and recently created bodies, such as learndirect scotland. I look to the council to provide leadership on this and to promote a culture of partnership and co-operation across the sector and beyond, in particular to meet the challenges of creating a lifelong learning culture.

The support referred to in the answer to question S1W-23416 is for all survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Mental health and community care services provided to, amongst others, survivors of childhood sexual abuse are provided regardless of gender.

If tenants vote yes in the Glasgow housing stock transfer ballot, Communities Scotland, as the statutory regulator of Registered Social Landlords will be responsible for monitoring of the Glasgow Housing Association's housing allocation policy.

The following learning providers, based in Glasgow Kelvin parliamentary constituency, have been recipients of Individual Learning Account payments: Alliance Francaise de Glasgow - £21,073AMT International - £5,219BPP Glasgow - £13,382British Red Cross Scotland - £360Catersafe Food Hygiene - £750Centre for Educational Systems - £1,800Centro Espanol Lorca - £22,005College of Holistic Medicine - £4,650Garnethill Centre - £450Glasgow Caledonian University - £64,513Glasgow Media Access Centre - £155Goethe-Institut Glasgow - £14,344Gosta Training - £701Harmony Kinesiology College - £655Informatics Group UK Ltd - £750International Correspondence Schools - £42,106Internet Exchange - £30,000ITC-Skills Ltd - £289,221Kinharvie - £1,950Learning and Teaching Scotland - £23,816Mindstore - £1,350Netcon-X Enterprise Ltd - £1,200Network Driver Training - £600PCT Professional Development - £300Scot-Train - £45,220Scottish College of Complementary Medicine - £2,400Scottish Screen - £1,805Scottish Training & Counselling Services (SCOTACS) - £5,920Scottish Yoga Teachers' Association - £1,350Services to Software Ltd - £600Share - £2,143Sports Rehab and Education Services - £857Stow College - £283,490University of Glasgow - Adult & Continuing Education - £134,703University of Glasgow - Language Centre - £3,528University of Glasgow - Universal Training Solution - £23,769University of Strathclyde - Centre for Lifelong Learning - £40,773University of Strathclyde - Centre for Professional Legal Studies - £28,000University of Strathclyde - Languages for Business - £600The total value of payments to these providers is: £1,116,508.

In the period May 1999 to date, 830 planning applications have been notified to the Scottish ministers. To extract and examine each file, current and archived, in order to provide the information requested could only be carried out at disproportionate cost.

If tenants vote yes in the Glasgow housing stock transfer ballot, the Glasgow Housing Association (GHA) will be accountable to the Scottish Executive to spend funding in a manner compliant with the conditions of grant, which will attach to the offer of such funding, to the Executive's agency, Communities Scotland, as the statutory regulator of Registered Social Landlords and to its tenants. Local Housing Organisations will also be accountable as part of their registration requirement with Communities Scotland, and as part of their contractual obligations to the GHA. The GHA will also be accountable to the City Council under terms of the transfer contract and bound to implement all the guarantees set out in the Business Plan.

If tenants vote yes in the Glasgow housing stock transfer ballot, the city council will retain strategic responsibility for housing in the city. The city council has six nominees on the Glasgow Housing Association (GHA) Management Committee, which has overall responsibility for the GHA and its operations. Individual councillors are already represented on a number of existing housing associations in the city.

SUfI administers the Capital Modernisation Fund support for learning centre development on behalf of the Executive. Funding for the scheme, which closed to new applicants in October, ends on 31 March 2002. The Executive does not plan any further funding thereafter. SUfI does not own or operate the learning centres it has branded, but took a view on sustainability of the centres before they were granted learndirect scotland branded status. I have asked the funding distributors, concerned with the administration of the other funds, to write to you directly.